


Fae Academy

by ravenklaw



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alpha Mate, Gay Male Character, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Magic, Mates, Mystery, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Suspense, fae/lion-shifter, gay alpha, gay were-lion, sorcery, spells
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-10 09:55:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13499574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenklaw/pseuds/ravenklaw
Summary: A half-fae Elian casts a spell to see his mate in his dreams. Adrian, the prince of werelion and son of his guardian, appears in those dreams, which leads Eli to believe that he is his mate. Problem is--Adrian is already engaged with the most beautiful man in the world.





	1. Chapter 1

_The Gathering Counter: Thursday, 18 days before the Gatherings_

 

I am Elian Gustan. In a community full of faes, I don’t have the porcelain skin to pass myself off as one of their own; and with my face not perfectly carved and not delicately smooth, my jaws sharp and angular and a cleft chin to boot, I am the very definition of un-fae-like. And although my tone and Apollo-built body may have been enough to get me a werekin membership card, I also do not have an ability to shift. So I am no werekin either. What I am belongs to the one percent of the human species who receive the brunt of what it means to be the by-product of ‘when nature erred.’  
The society with great sensitivities called my kind sampi—half-fae, half-werekin. But for the younger generation full of insensitive fae snobs, I am a hybrid. They wouldn’t call me that out loud lest they would get demerit and be forced to do a community service picking litters in Lake Gaea.

But I am not the vengeful type. They can call me that for all I care, and their words will all fall on deaf ears. No. I do not cater to such puerile taunt. Enrolled at the University of Pershiane, the elite academy for all things faekin, I am serious about my education. I am fascinated with spells, enchantments, potions, and sorceries. I spent most of my time studying nature and writing spells and enchantment that scored high in creativity and zero on the effectiveness.

  
But effectiveness crossed my mind as I sat in my Archaic Spell class, listening intently to Sir Atkin’s lecture. With the way the whole class was quiet, I was starting to think that the good professor was using an enchantment to keep his students enthralled. Wearing the dark green robe that all the teachers in Pershiane University wear, Professor Atkin discussed an ancient city that sank during Ragnarok.

  
“Just imagine that sheer amount of power that had been used to not only shake the ground but also break the foundation of earth that caused for the city to split and ultimately sink into the water,” Professor Atkin said, his voice mesmerizing. “Think about it, and think about it hard because your next assignment—” And this broke the enchanting moment and replaced by groans and grunts from his dis-enchanted audience. But the good professor could not be deterred as he pressed on. “Listen up, your assignment is to write a paper of the kind of spell and potion used by the Titans to sink the Adamkin City into the water. Work with a partner or by yourself, I don’t care as long as you have your paper Monday after the Gathering week. Any question?”  
None dared to ask.

  
Or none seemed to care as most of them were now engaged talking about the upcoming Gatherings, a celebration of the 716th Anniversary of the Founding of the Seven Realms. For Pershiane students who enjoyed having their university considered the second best institution among the seven realms, it was not just the convention that got them all excited but the very presence of the best among their midsts—the alphas of Alpha Academy.  
But I was not like my peers. I did not want to think about Gatherings. My mind was preoccupied with our assignment. What Professor Atkin said sounded familiar. I heard about the Adamkin City before, but why was this niggling me this time? The city sank at the bottom of the sea, very much like…Atlantis.

  
"What did you say?"

  
Startled, I turned to where the voice came. Tela. She smiled at me. Tela with hair filled with red and green highlights has been my best friend since Basics.

  
"Huh?" was my befuddled reply.

  
"I heard you said something."

  
I stared at her again. My brain was seriously grappling for an answer.

  
"No. I didn't say anything."

  
It was at that time when Sir Atkin dismissed the class. I gathered my belongings and walked out of the classroom, thinking of hanging out in the place I was most comfortable with.

  
“I’ll meet you there in a few minutes,” Tela called as I reached the door.

  
I glanced back at her and nodded.

 

* * *

The school library is an embodiment of grandeur shown in stone masonry structures in the District of Pershiane. Columns divided the sections while giant sculptures of ancient deities classified the books: a giant sculpture of deity Apollo stood by the entrance of the books about the Art of Healing; and deity Ares, about the Art of Defensive Enchantment. The former was where I went a couple of minutes ago. The latter was where I was currently sitting, reading this huge book that gave me a whole list of defensive spells. But learning about spell was one thing; executing it was another. I could say the spell with the correct intonation and hand gestures, but if I didn’t have the ‘it’, then I wouldn’t get it. Mother nature wouldn’t answer my call, or my prayer as the elders would say: Casting a spell is an invocation or a prayer to make nature performs in a certain way.

  
And that ‘it’ factor that could make Mother Nature run to you when called is fifty percent teachable and fifty percent biological.

  
I barely passed Basics, and at 23 I’m still Level II of my Herbology Major. I’m not much good at casting a spell, but I’m good at mixing herbs to make a potion.

  
A large book was all suddenly slammed on the table right in front me.

  
"Hades' pit!" I cried out, startled.

  
A small round face crowned with long dark hair replete with red and green highlights came to my view.

  
"I've been calling your name a couple of times, but you're not hearing me. So..." she said, her lips pouting in act of contrition.

  
"What do you want?"

  
"This." Tela slid the book toward my direction. "Is what you need."

  
I frowned.

  
"Can't you see I'm busy here?"

  
"Read the title," she said in a whisper.

  
"The Mystery of –"

  
"I meant to read it silently.”

  
_The Mystery of the Lost World._

  
A chill suddenly lodged in my chest. I lent back, staring at the book wide-eye.

  
"Where did you get this?"

  
"Certainly not from here. You won't get anything in this library other than the basic information. Nothing that can pique my curiosity. However, I know you'd be interested in this."

  
"And what made you think that?"

  
Tela gave me a strange look.

  
"Don't think for a second that I didn't hear what you said in the class a while ago.”

  
"I don’t remember what I said.”

  
Tela leaned closer to me, her lips a kiss away from my ear.

  
"You said Atlantis," she whispered.

  
I froze. I got up, almost knocking my chair down. I earned a warning bell from the female assistant librarian who was glaring at us. I mouthed an apology and then walked out of the building. Tela was hot on my heels.

  
"I don't know why you're upset," Tela said when she finally caught up with me in the column-laden corridor. There were faes strolling in the area, throwing curious glances at us.

  
“I’m not upset,” I said. “The word is just…it popped up in my head and then I felt this odd sensation as soon as I said the word like I was breaking a secrecy spell.”

  
If a gaze could bore a hole, I would have been walking with a pair of it.

  
"Come with me. I'll show you something," she said. “And for the record, no one can break a secrecy spell.”

  
I sighed and followed Tela’s lead.


	2. Chapter 2

Tela led me to the An-Kian Forest filled with streaks of bright light and birds that chirped like banshees. The air here was thick and velvety, fondling my skin like thousands of soft hands. If you’ve been in Eden, voted by faes as top spa house, then you know what I’m talking about.

  
“Why are we here?”

  
“I’ll show you why,” Tela answered.

  
Our feet sounded heavy on the dry leaves that littered on the forest ground. A sudden movement from my left startled me. My eyes only caught the tail of the snake that slithered through and into a pile of dried Spyloom leaves that were yellowed with age. I cringed at the possibility of stepping on one of these reptiles hidden beneath the crumpled leaves. But Tela's steps were decisively hurried, seemingly unmindful of the forest's inhabitants.

  
"Don't you know there are snakes under the leaves?" I said.

  
"Poseidon's balls! How come you don't know that snakes are afraid of fae? They'll crawl away from you when they sniff just a whit of your scent!" Tela said without breaking a step.

  
“You’re right, but I’m not a pure fae. And snakes can smell it out of me.”

  
“They’re scared of both, werekin and fae. So you’re good.”

  
“But I’m still scared of them.”

  
“You’re a whole lot of strangeness.”

My heartbeat started pounding heavier in my ears and my legs were feeling the strain of having reached the end of my optimum endurance, requiring me for an optimum rest—preferably now.   
Tela stopped.

  
Did I make her do that? Weird.

  
Gasping for my breath, I looked around. The air here was thicker as though the whole place was submerged in invisible water.

  
"I’ve never been in this part of the forest,” I said.

 

  
Tela gave this mysterious grin that caused me to move a few steps back.

  
"Behold the gate to the Atlantis," she said with dramatic aplomb.

  
In front of us was a gate that was wide and made of limestone. Two magnificent towers stood at the opposite corners of the curtain wall.

  
"You're joking, right? That’s a castle."

  
"You enter that castle, and it will lead to the other world,” Tela said, sitting down.

  
I sat down beside her with both my knees up.

  
"Other world? Seriously?”

  
“Atlantis did not sink into the water. It got transported to the other dimension.”

  
“And you think I’m a whole lot of strange. You’re a whole lot of crazy.”

  
“So what do you think is this then, Mr. I’m-too-smart-for-this?”

  
“Abandoned castle like the many abandoned castles in the Realms.”

  
“Yes, Mr. I’m-so-smart, give me one reason why a castle is abandoned?”

  
“The owner died,” I said.

  
“The owner? What kind of owner owned a castle?”

  
“Kings? Princes? Barons?”

  
“Royalties. Right. Aren’t they all known publicly?”

  
“Reclusive…reclusive princes like in your book, the Shy Prince.”

  
Tela glared at me. “If you don’t declare yourself a royalty, then you can’t own a castle. Remember the law of property acquisition? No matter how rich you are, you can’t build a castle. Unless you’re a royalty? Or a king gifted it to you along with a title.”

  
“Okay, where are you going with this?” I asked, confused.

  
“This castle is not in the public registry.”

  
“Okay.”

  
“It doesn’t have an address.”

  
“Okay?”

  
“It doesn’t have a listed owner.”

  
“Okay?”

  
“It simply does not exist.”

  
“But it’s here. Everyone knows there’s a castle here. So?”

  
“So who owns this?”

  
I shrugged.

  
“Who knows? Why is it important to you?”

  
She grinned at me.

  
“Look over there?”

  
I followed where she was pointing. At the top center of the gate was a keystone.

  
"What's that?"

  
"Ruby stone and some kind of a family seal?”

  
“It’s beautiful. And so what?”

  
She grinned at me again.

  
“I challenge you to stare at that keystone and approach the gate,” she said, standing up.

  
“Really? That’s it? And then we’re going home and you’ll forget all of this Atlantis crap?”

  
“Promise,” she said, pouting.

  
With a little exasperation, I took a few steps forward. When I reached few paces closer to the gate, my feet started getting heavy as if they were buried in a very sticky mud. I was nothing but stubborn, and so I persisted, dragging my feet toward my intended destination.

  
And then that was it. I knew nothing about what happened next.

  
My first consciousness after that was hearing a cacophony of voices. I opened my only to be totally blinded by darkness. Then from a corner, a slit of light appeared. I followed it.

  
"I'm sorry, wake up, please...please," came Tela's frantic voice.

  
I opened my eyes.

  
"What happened?" I asked. My body was heavy as if I were run over by a truck.

  
"It was the ward. I'm sorry," Tela said brushing the tears in her eyes.

  
She then helped me get up.

  
"The ward hit me?"

  
"The ward spell usually activated when someone would approach the gate. Their feet would get stuck on the ground. But yours was different. You actually were able to move your feet right at that point when nobody ever could and then all of a sudden you came flying back like you got tossed up. Poseidon's balls, I was so scared! And look at the gate!"

  
My gaze shifted to where Tela was pointing. The ruby stone was glowing!

  
"Shit," I said. "What's in Hades' hell is happening?"

  
"I think you woke up something."

  
"It better be something and not someone. I don't want to disturb whatever is sleeping in there," I said in jest.

  
“Either that, or you opened the gate to the Atlantis,” Tela said. “I was hoping you opened the gate. That would be…something.”

  
The ruby stone continued emitting reddish glow as if my intrusion served as the shock that awakened it from its long slumber, and now it’s pumping blood into the whole structure. Was this the gate to the Atlantis? Or did I awaken someone?


	3. Chapter 3

_The Gathering Counter: Friday, 17 days before the Gatherings_

 

I spent the next day trying to forget the incident in the forest. By trying to forget I meant to say spending my day following my routine like attending my classes and staying a couple of hours in the library, and avoiding Tela by every means possible. This was why I took refuge in Moonstone Cafe, the famous hangout of the faes and the last place Tela would search for me.

  
So not to be easily detected, I chose the table near the waterfalls, a section in the cafe that was obscured by some thick flowering shrubs.

  
I glanced at the clock carved into the rock next to the cascading water. Trains ran from Pershiane to the Shore-town every 30 minutes and the last one just departed. This gave me thirty minutes to kill before the next one arrived.

  
“Hear this.”

  
I grimaced when I heard the familiar voice. Did she put a tracker on me? If I did not acknowledge her, would she go away?

  
“A Droom professor discovered a bone of a dragon in Cave Cretin,” Tela said, oblivious to my disinterest in engaging in the conversation. “They said it’s around two thousand years old. This definitely destroyed the claim about dragon being extinct millions of years ago.”

  
I sighed and then turned to face her. She had all her eyes twinkling with excitement like a child who just came out of sucrose land.

  
“When exactly did they confirm that dragons were real much less becoming extinct?” I said with sarcasm.

  
“Well, the Droom institution confirmed it—”

  
“Oh, yeah, Droom who also proposed that jinns be classified as humans?”

  
“Hey, Droom is reliable. What’s wrong with that? Jinns deserved to be treated like humans. So have respect.”

  
“Yes, there’s nothing wrong with treating everyone with respect. Only that jinn doesn’t really exist.”

  
“What are you talking about, jinns are real.”

  
I heaved another deep sigh and then returned my attention to my notebook, thinking that she might just be some figment of my too paranoid imagination.

  
“They’re everywhere,” Tela said, slapping my forearm.

  
“Ouch, what did you do that for?”

  
“You’re ignoring me as if I wasn’t here. I’m right here.”

  
“I just don’t want to talk about that shit.”

  
She slapped my forearm again.

  
“What!”

  
“Don’t cuss.” Her eyes fell on the coffee on the table. “What coffee did you order? Have you tried, the Nec-presso? Trust me, it’s delicious.”

  
“It’s also twenty percent coffee and eighty-percent flower juice. I want more coffee in my coffee, thank you very much,” I said and proceeded to demonstrate my point by drinking my preferred coffee in front of her.

  
“You.Are.Like…” she paused. “Never mind. “But listen, dragon is real. Jinns are real. And you’re hot.”

  
I choked on the last one. “What’s this, two truth and a lie game?”

  
“Not a game. Just a plain simple truth that, unfortunately, only special people can see,” she said and stole the coffee and drank it.

  
Sarcasm was hanging right at the tip of my tongue. Ready to be launched. But I rolled my eyes instead and picked up my pen to write on my pad.

  
“So what kind of spell is it that can move or shake the ground? Moving, it got to be something about moving,” I said, changing the subject.

  
“What are you doing?”

  
“What do you think this is? Our assignment of course.”

  
“The one from Sir Atkin? It isn’t due until next week. We have more time.”

  
“Well, I’m not really good at spell and enchantment, I meant not good with everything. So I need to start ahead.”

  
I felt her probing gaze on my skin.

  
“You don’t have like downtime, do you? It’s all work for you,” she said.

  
“This is my downtime.”

  
She rolled her eyes. “Downtime is when you don’t talk about class work, but rather you talk about nonsensical—”

  
“Waste of time stuff. Okay. But let me decide what to do with my time, okay?”

  
“What about the Gatherings. Let’s talk about it. Aren’t you excited about it? The alphas are going to be there?”

  
I glanced at her direction. Her arms crossed over her chest; her eyes glimmering with amusement.

  
“I thought you’re more excited about the Droom delegates.”

 

  
“I am, but I’m just human. Of course, I’m excited about the alphas too.”

  
“What exactly about the alphas that you’re excited?” I asked, humoring her.

  
“Well, their overwhelming presence.”

  
I burst out laughing. “So you’re joining the craze train.”

  
“Something’s wrong with you,” she said. She bent toward me to get close to my face. “Nothing seems to excite you.”

  
“Not true.”

  
“Okay, so tell me.”

  
“Adrian.”

  
“Oh, right. Your pseudo-brother.”

  
“He’s not my pseudo-brother. We’re not related.”

  
“You’re his father’s ward. You live in his house since you’re like twelve. You grew up with him. Whether you like it or not, he’s your pseudo-brother!”

  
“Do you have to raise your voice? He’s not.”

  
“If he’s not, then what is he?”

  
My attention went back to the waterfall. The water quietly cascading down the rough surface of the rock calmed me. Who was Adrian to me if not a brother? There was not any doubt in my mind what the answer was, but if others thought of me nothing but a brother to Adrian, then what was I to Adrian?

  
“You’re suddenly quiet.”

  
“You just killed my vibes.”

  
“How about we talked about what happened in the forest?”

  
“We’re not talking about it, the reason why I was avoiding you because I don’t want to talk about it.”

  
“Oh, so that’s why you’re here.”

  
***

It was late in the afternoon when I took a train ride back home to Shore Town. Barely anyone was on the train so I chose the seat near the door.

  
When the train covered the middle of the bridge, it jolted as though it stumbled upon a rock. Murmurs of annoyance rang inside the train and then quieted when we started moving again. Outside, the green water of Lake Gaia shimmered as the sun nearly reached the horizon. A blow of air on my neck sent me turning to the other passengers. They all looked at me, a little bemused. I glared at them, just because.

  
When the train dropped me off at the Oakwood forest, which was owned by Angus, I began my trek to Angus’ mansion. I was halfway there when I felt a presence walking beside me.

  
There was no sign of another pair of footstep, but I could feel it on my skin like a warm breath closed to my neck. I quickened my steps, my heart beating faster.

  
A hand suddenly clamped my mouth and an arm circled around my waist. Everything turned as I was spun around.

  
“Adrian, put me down!” I said, and then laughing.

  
“Oh, no. I’m carrying you like this. Put your feet around my waist.”

  
And I did as I buried my head in the crook of Adrian’s neck.

  
Adrian’s back.

  
Adrian’s home.

  
I could use of some down time that Tela said I desperately needed.

 


End file.
